In the year of 1452 (Graham-Dixon, 152), the yells of a woman in labor terrified the neighbors in the slums next door. Moments later a male child, Leonardo Da Vinci, takes his first breath of air and is put into the arms of the man who is his father. He grew up as the illegitimate child of a Florentine notary who supported Da Vinci greatly. His son had “incredible male beauty, mathematical excellence and scientific daring beyond his years” (Pioch/web). His father sent Da Vinci to be an apprentice to a man named Andrea de Verrocchio. Verrocchio, who also influenced Michelangelo, introduced Da Vinci into the world of sculpture and the mastery of painting (Pioch/web). Moving on from his apprenticeship, Leonardo sought to connect his reflections on science in his art by trying to “show the shape and movement of water and the genealogy and form of the earth” (2, 152). He spent his early years in France where he painted his most important work “Adoration of the Magi”. Da Vinci’s blossom

Human imperfections finally caught up with the perfectionist, along with old age. His art could not withstand his many expectations, as he dove into the impossible depth of his creativity; to further his abilities as an artist he reached his limits. During his old age, which was spent in France, he moved into more abstract art (Holmes, 159). He sought for more descriptive pictures and wrote long explanations of subjects that he wanted to paint in future (Graham-Dixon, 165). Graham-Dixon says that “knowledge that whatever he did paint could not possibly live up to encyclopedic expectations for painting” made his subjects “unpaintable” and he became a “dreamer-artist” who could not bring himself to paint (Holmes, 165-166). He lost his confidence as a master painter as he felt nothing he painted could live up to the standards he set for himself.

ing talent was only tainted by his inability to finish what he started; this was a feature in his whole career (Graham-Dixon, 164). Yet the bud of his talent was so great that George Holmes complemented the incomplete “Adoration of the Magi” as “His good composition of figure…and spiritual dept even in incomplete works” (150).

Leonardo Da Vinci was smart enough to know that he could sell himself as a valued commodity. Keeping this in mind he recommends himself to the Duke of Milan, Lorenzo de Medici, as a military engineer and an inventor (Graham-Dixon, 155). He also states that during peace time he could “give perfect satisfaction to the equal of any architect…I can carry out sculpture…I can paint whatever is possible” (Jardine, 239). Impressed by the letter, Da Vinci is hired to advise the military and surveys aspects of his talent (Jardine, 243). During his employment he spent much time on “somber, symbolic, or jovial exhibits, creating temporary displays” for the royal court of Milan; these showed his capability in expressing his art (Holmes, 151). Da Vinci was not commissioned for very many projects so he worked on masterpieces such as the “Virgin of the Rocks, “Lady with an Ermine and “Last Supper” (Holmes, 150); here he finally fulfilled his true artistic

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